Google bails on Oracle/Sun Java One conference

According to Joshua Bloch of Google GOOG Open Source Programs Office, Google won’t be attending Oracle’s ORCL Open World and specifically the Java One subconference.

Like many of you, every year we look forward to the workshops, conferences and events related to open source software. In our view, these are among the best ways we can engage the community, by sharing our experiences and learning from yours. So we’re sad to announce that we won’t be able to present at JavaOne this year. We wish that we could, but Oracle’s recent lawsuit against Google and open source has made it impossible for us to freely share our thoughts about the future of Java and open source generally. This is a painful realization for us, as we’ve participated in every JavaOne since 2004, and I personally have spoken at all but the first in 1996.

That makes sense. As the two companies are now ‘at war’, anything said by either company can be used in court. He did throw in that little ‘Oracle’s recent lawsuit against Google and open source’ so we know it isn’t just business, it is personal.

Interestingly, Google is still listed as a ‘Bronze Sponsor’ of the event, though that was probably worked out months ago. It isn’t certain if Google can or will pull its sponsorship.